Pornography filters the British government required major internet service providers to install seem to be working a little too well, blocking websites that supply sex ed, sexual health information and treatment for porn addiction, the BBC reported.

The four major internet companies in the UK have begun to
introduce the mandatory filters to users based on a government
edict. In the process, sex education and health sites have been
caught up in the compulsory system’s net.

At the same time, the BBC found all major ISPs that have
unleashed full default filters are not completely blocking
hardcore porn sites.

BT unveiled its filter this week, Sky enacted its own last month
and Virgin has a pilot program ahead of a full launch in 2014.
TalkTalk has had a filter in place since May 2011.

British PM David Cameron announced in
July that all UK households are to have their access blocked to
online pornography unless they choose to ‘opt in.’ He
called the "family-friendly" filters important to keep
children from "stumbling across hardcore legal
pornography.”

By the end of next year, households will have to accept or
decline an automatic porn filter.

BishUK.com, a major British sex education site that receives over
a million hits per year, was blocked by TalkTalk’s filter, as was
the Edinburgh Women’s Rape and Sexual Abuse Center’s website.

"Sadly there is no silver bullet when it comes to internet
safety and we have always been clear that no solution can ever be
100 percent,” a TalkTalk spokesperson said. “We continue
to develop HomeSafe and welcome feedback to help us continually
improve the service."

Sky’s filter blocked 99 percent of sites tested, but it also
blocked six porn-addiction sites.

BT disallowed access to sites such as Sexual Health Scotland,
Doncaster Domestic Abuse Helpline, and Reducing The Risk, a site
focused on domestic abuse.

"Categorizations are constantly updated to keep pace with
changing content on the internet and we will investigate any
concerns and make changes as necessary,” a BT spokesperson
said.

The four companies will fund a US$40 million ad campaign in 2014
to explain the filters and how to protect children’s online
usage. Some believe the moves do not go far enough to keep porn
from kids.

"It's great that the four ISPs have got together and are
doing an awareness-raising campaign. But it isn't even starting
to be enough,” said Victoria Shotbolt, chief executive of
the Parent Zone. "We're focusing so heavily on filters and
all of the ISPs having them and public wi-fi having filters that
the message getting through to parents is that those filters will
do the job."

Justin Hancock, who runs BishUK, did not know his site was
blocked by some filters.

"It's really frustrating because I'm trying to provide a sex
education site for young people and it's hard enough directing
young people to good quality information on the internet,”
he said. "They might fix my site in the short-term but what
about all the other sites that are out there for young people,
not just sex education sites…who are TalkTalk to say what is
allowed and isn't?"

The UK Council for Child Internet Safety is aware of some
over-blocking and has created a working group to address what can
be done, the BBC reported.

Last month, Google announced
it would install measures to block over 100,000 online search
results linked to child abuse worldwide. Microsoft said it
intends to join Google in its effort.

The move followed a pressure campaign in the UK led by British PM
Cameron.

“We've listened, and in the last three months put more than
200 people to work developing new, state-of-the-art technology to
tackle the problem,” Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt
wrote in a Daily Mail op-ed.